Duty of Candour in Healthcare Practice

About this course

This course helps healthcare professionals understand when and how to be open, honest and transparent with patients when something has gone wrong in their care. It explains the professional duty of candour that applies to every registered professional, and the separate statutory duty of candour that applies to organisations in England, Scotland and Wales. It then works through the practical skills involved: recognising when candour is needed, speaking to patients promptly and compassionately, apologising without assigning blame, avoiding false reassurance, reflecting honestly, and building a team culture in which openness is normal.

The course draws on the joint guidance of the General Medical Council and the Nursing and Midwifery Council, Openness and honesty when things go wrong: the professional duty of candour, and on the standards of the other UK healthcare regulators. It is suited to clinical and leadership roles alike and supports ethical practice, patient safety and professional integrity.

CPD Value and How to Record It:

This course is designed to provide approximately 2 hours of learning, including reading, the reflection points, the reflective account and the assessment. In the UK, CPD is generally recorded as the time actually spent learning, so you should record the time you genuinely spend, which may be more or less than the estimate.

How the course fits your revalidation or CPD requirements depends on your regulator. For example, the NMC asks nurses, midwives and nursing associates to record 35 hours of CPD over three years, of which at least 20 must be participatory; self-directed online learning such as this course usually counts as individual learning unless you complete it with others. The GMC expects doctors to reflect on CPD for appraisal and revalidation rather than setting a fixed number of hours. The HCPC, GDC, GPhC, GOC, GOsC and GCC each set their own CPD requirements, so check the current rules that apply to you. Always keep your certificate together with your written reflection.

What you will learn

• Explain what the professional duty of candour means and when it applies.
• Distinguish the professional duty from the statutory duty of candour on organisations.
• Describe what the UK regulators expect of individual professionals.
• Communicate clearly and compassionately when something has gone wrong.
• Offer a sincere apology without assigning blame or admitting legal liability.
• Reflect on incidents in a way that demonstrates insight.
• Contribute to a team culture in which honesty, learning and trust are the norm.
• Apply the duty of candour confidently in everyday practice.

Who this course is for

Doctors, nurses, midwives, nursing associates, dental professionals, pharmacy professionals, allied health professionals, optometrists, osteopaths and chiropractors across the UK.

Social workers: this cross-profession course covers principles that apply across health and social care; most worked examples come from healthcare settings.

Course content

8 sections · 2 CPD hours · 15 MCQs

Course facts

CPD value

Approximately 2 CPD hours (estimated learning time, including reflection and assessment)

Format

Self-paced reading with case illustrations, reflection points and a written reflective account

Standards covered

Joint regulator guidance on the professional duty of candour; GMC Good medical practice; NMC Code; HCPC, GDC, GPhC, GOC, GOsC and GCC standards; statutory duty of candour in England, Scotland and Wales

Assessment

15 scenario-based multiple-choice questions; pass mark 12 out of 15 (80%)

Questions about this course